"The Championship is not an option" - I Love Football off-season and transfer speculation thread 2012

It occurs that Rooney might never have attended a game as a fan; he may genuinely be shocked that fans don't just turn up to cheer their own (see also: Cape Town, 2010)

If hazard goes to Utd, does that mean Kagawa to Arsenal? If he's set on Prem football then we can offer that, well for a season at least.

hazard twp nani
kagawa

cleverley and kagawa in the same midfield would be a bit lightweight

and now thanks to IK I wanna listen to 'Wilmot' by Sabres of Paradise.

It looks like a cracking mix actually, doubt it's still up sadly.

Lol! I didn't even notice that this was on it too:

Elvis Costello - I Don't Want To Go To Chelsea

haha

citeh have nasri and silva
utd have rooney
chelsea have mata

utd have rooney
utd have rooney
utd have rooney
city have nasri and silva
chelsea have mata

and

utd have

rooney

be fair they've got Howard Webb as well

yes they have Rooney, second top scorer in the league last season, ninth in goals and sixth in assists all time

focal point of a 100m attack or w/e, no berbatov/keane at spurs or rvp last season

Also- he plays a lot in a team that wins a lot, regardless of performance level (refers to both)

Also, iirc webb is ahead of him for utd assists

I'd been really looking forward to the close season

but at any rate, cmon silva/nasri/mata these are not valid rooney comparison players? Aside from being talents, like

aye, and Nasri, Mata, and Silva are surrounded by bargain basement tat. Look, i dislike Rooney in a lot of ways (and as an actual Utd fan have more reason to than most of you) but just be leave it

they play in the roughly the same position. That's the comparison

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

yeah, i suppose we should be talking about real talents like "Thudd" or Krancjar or whoever

anyway, position posmition, ask anyone who's seen em to pick the three similar players out of the four, you know that the pasty fat one without is gonna be left on the kerb crying into his box of maimed kittens

xp

Uh

Is that sarcasm? Cos....

and i never made a comparison in terms of technical ability or style, I was simply talking about where Hazard would fit into the teams.

instead of rooney imo

look, Rooney is a good player who maybe never fulfilled his full potential. He plays for the team who finished level on points with this year's champions and was a major contributor to that. He's a bit fat, not exactly a looker, and he's got a stupid nickname. Do we really need to discuss this any further?

ya

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning.

Grauniad has one of those 50 transfers list things and it is predictably stupid: Suarez will cost as much as Neymar and more than Gotze, Hoilett will cost £10m despite his contract being up etc. Also it isn't exactly surprising but it doesn't care about anyone unless they have been vaguely linked to the top clubs in England (Not even big non-English European transfers are mentioned, like Guiseppe Rossi's eventual move to a big Italian side, nor transfers OUT of England, like how Balotelli may leave). So unless the top 6 (Pool not Newcastle) spend £100m on whole new forward line-ups, I don't see it being weighted in much realism.

otoh it has this picture, which made it worth browsing

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798987632/Fulhams-Clint-Dempsey-cel-018.jpg

the dempsey to BIG CLUB rumors have quieted down a bit of late

lots of excellent pics in that article actually
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/5/23/1337798993863/Lazios-Anderson-Carvalho--020.jpg

You fuckers, I was going to poll those later! It's Berba vs Skrtel tbh.

darragh's twp hatin' becoming as stale as #N's stannning

this is p unfair on #0 imo, considering i p much always start it

also:

ur persistent stanning for this player is becoming one note and predictable imo

― pet tommy & the barkhaters (darraghmac)

i dunno did y'all read the intent of this post correctly, but it may not have been entirely sincere nor without an element of selfzing

What I like and dislike most about Rooney is his attitude.

I bumped the other thread, this one is for transfer speculation. So either plausibly link TWP to Metallist Kharkiv or take it over there. imo.

fair

i'm internet-challenged at work and busy in the evenings so i've no notion of what's happening

Arsenal are ready to open the bidding for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud by offering £6.4m, plus Marouane Chamakh, for the 25-year-old.

Transfer rumours very much in character.

I think they might hold out for slightly more.

I think they're just trying to reassure Chamakh that he's still a £20m player.

QPR are set to rush through the permanent £3.2m signing of Samba Diakité after clubs were alerted last night to a possible loophole in his loan deal with Hoops.

Back in France it is understood one of the clauses that triggered an automatic €4million (£3.2m) transfer was a minimum number of games for Rs believed to be 10.

The man who plays internationally for Mali made only nine appearances in a Rangers shirt after a virus cut short his season.

Diakité has made plain his desire to join QPR rather than a switch to Marseille or Lyon when he was made available by Nancy.

But those working on his behalf are set to test the water with other Premier League clubs following the player’s impressive start in west London.

A source close to Nancy said: “The club are happy to sell Diakité to QPR for the agreed amount. Nancy is not a club who can afford to turn down a big money offer. But of course he may be desirable to other clubs as well, and the deal has yet to be ratified.”

fuckkkk i don't like the look of this one bit

if he cried off our last couple games to give himself more options he's a right little cunt

http://twitter.com/DuncanCastles/status/204230346596823041/photo/1

haw

looks like m'vila to arsenal is on after all

http://www.thenational.ae/sport/football/liverpools-owners-want-attacking-football-and-champions-league-qualification

Swansea City's announcement that Brendan Rodgers had declined the offer of an interview followed preliminary discussions about high-profile Dalglish signings he would want moved out of Liverpool, according to a friend of the Northern Irishman.

no mug is our brendan

Celtic striker Gary Hooper has outlined his ambitions to one day play for Barcelona but has stressed he is happy to see out his Parkhead contract.

Good for him. Following in the footsteps of our Henke.

He's the kind of penalty box scorer with good movement and instincts that England could do with btw - except he plays in the wrong country and Hodgson would apparently rather lump high balls up to a guy he outscored in the Championship.

Daily Mail headline writers got the "lol SPL" memo, I see:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2149857/Gary-Hooper-wants-play-Barcelona.html?ITO=1490

yeah that's mean. so how good is he? (saying england could do with his skills leave a lot of room for clarification) any premiership clubs been linked with him?

i like hooper, definitely think he's got the knack

whether that by itself makes a top class footballer is another thing tho

He's decent, and I think would shine in any set-up that provided chances for him.

twitter saying qpr are getting fabio on loan for next season

sounds like a crap signing to me

depends on whether it refers to capello or the model/actor

any premiership clubs been linked with him?

New boys Southampton had a wee bite in January and might have another go. No rumours I'm aware of about anyone else. He's currently being offered a new deal and making noises about having a crack at the Champions League with Celtic but things can change quickly when/if the cash rich EPL comes knocking.

I think he's a better goalscorer than Jelavic but not as intelligent or productive around the box. He's usually as selfish as you'd expect from a penalty box player - excellent knack for finding the far post across the goalie. Uses his body well for a relatively wee guy. Quicker than his awkward running style suggests. His goals per game ratio so far is better than Henrik Larsson's - though imo the league is of a lower quality than it was then so that doesn't tell that much of a story.

As r|t|c* says - he's got the knack. It's something you just see in a certain kind of player. Feed him and he'll score.

* I can't help thinking Rangers Tax Case when I see those letters.

Fabio will be good, and i hope he stays in England when he goes on loan. I like this quote from Berba's agent

"Plus, there has never been a Bulgarian player at PSG, so it could be good."